In passenger cars, it has commonly become an established practice for sliding roofs or comparable devices to be opened, to be closed or to be brought into a tilt/ventilation position electrically. The required anti-trapping protection, in particular during the closing operation, is often achieved in that, at least for the closing direction, the electrical actuation takes the form of a switch with a type of dead-man control function, in which the closing movement stops immediately when the switch is released. In order to form the control elements in a logical manner for the user, it has also become established practice to provide the corresponding actuation switch on the so-called overhead panel on the roof lining of the passenger car interior in a region in front of the fastening point of the interior mirror, there generally also being provided on this panel further elements, such as reading and interior lamps and the control elements thereof.
Generally, it cannot be ruled out that children or infants (in particular also because of certain child seat constructions) may inadvertently actuate, for example with their knees, corresponding switches on the overhead panels, this then entailing corresponding risks of injury during an unexpected movement of, for example, a sliding roof. Therefore, a normal requirement in the development of corresponding overhead panels with control switches for such safety-critical elements is for it not to be possible to effectively actuate such switches with a test body, specifically in general with a ball which has a diameter of 40 mm and which is intended to simulate the human body parts such as a knee, a foot or an elbow (even of an infant).
In the case of such products, the design requirement was generally met in the past by means of additional projecting lateral webs at the switches. The webs generally prevent a corresponding test body, and thus in practice also corresponding body parts, from touching the actual actuation element of the switch and consequently triggering a switching operation. However, such webs may be rather unsatisfactory in an esthetic sense. Moreover, a vehicle user can become caught thereon or strike thereagainst, in particular in the case of crash scenarios. Furthermore, the regular operability of the switch is hindered somewhat, in particular when attempting “blind actuation.”
Alternatively, in the case of other passenger cars, the problem outlined above has been rectified in that a corresponding slide switch was arranged to be recessed in a corresponding recess of the overhead panel, with the result that a test body cannot engage far enough into the recess in order to touch the actuation element. This solution likewise has some disadvantages. This is rather unsatisfactory in an esthetic sense and further not necessarily suitable for intuitive operation in the case of poor lighting conditions or without looking away from the road, because a user first has to feel the recess and then has to push the control element forward or back. It would be desirable to provide an enhanced solution, in a haptic and esthetic sense and in terms of crash safety, for such a rocker switching element with erroneous-operation protection.